


Cold

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Series: Holly's Round Eight H/C Bingo Card [75]
Category: Static Shock
Genre: Episode Tag, Gen, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 16:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13170522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: When Richie finally comes out of it, the cold is bone-deep in a way he'd never experienced. Technology had been everything to him for so long—since long before he'd become Gear—and to have that thrown back in his face like this, to have his technology and his knowledge and his mind betray him like this… it's strange.In the aftermath of Brainiac's attack, Richie has a hard time asking for what he needs. Luckily, Virgil knows him well enough to read between the lines. Episode tag to S03E07.





	Cold

When Richie finally comes out of it, the cold is bone-deep in a way he's never experienced. Technology has been everything to him for so long—since long before he'd become Gear—and to have that thrown back in his face like this, to have his technology and his knowledge and his mind betray him like this… it's strange. But he does his due diligence and lets J'onn check his mind for traces of Brainiac and tries not to wish for something he knows he can't have. It's easy to roll with Virgil's jokes and watch the League fly off back to the Watchtower and share a fistbump with Virgil. Easy to fall back into his rhythms when Virgil's there at his side, his best friend and one of the only people in his life he can rely on completely.

But after that. After the jokes and the teasing and the return to normalcy at headquarters. After video games and Back-Pack repairs and doing his own sweep of the robot's circuitry. After Virgil's lingering and Richie's gentle coaxing and the unspoken agreement that Virgil really does need to get home. After that. After all of that. That's when the shaking starts.

He's in the middle of his fifteenth scan of Back-Pack (because it's not that he doesn't trust the League, it's that he's not sure he trusts himself) when the shaking gets bad enough that he has to put the scanner down. He grabs at the edges of the table, trying to stabilize himself as the shaking threatens to send him to his knees. He stands there, eyes squeezed closed while he tries to get ahold of himself.

Because even though he knows there's no trace of Brainiac left in him, all he can feel is the pressure of its programming at the edge of his brain. Because even though he knows all his gadgets are his again, all he can think of is that moment of panic and helplessness when Backpack had attacked him. Because even though he knows he's not in that giant mangled mess of circuitry that Brainiac had passed off as a body, all he can feel is the cold press of steel against his skin from when the virus had briefly considered going with an android instead of a fully mechanized body.

That may be the worst of all of it. Not Brainiac taking over his gadgets or attacking Virgil or trespassing in his mind. The worst might have been when Brainiac had tried to take over his body.

He's got his skates on and is out of headquarters and halfway to Virgil's place before he realizes he's even left. He stops mid-flight, trying to convince himself he doesn't want this, doesn't _need_ this, but the tiny, quiet corner of his mind that controls his skates seems to have a different opinion. When he touches down around the corner from Virgil's place, he takes a moment to berate himself— _it's a school night, Virgil's with his family, you need to be stronger than this_ —before he gives in and makes his way up to the door. He raps softly on the door, a silent acquiescence to what he knows he should be doing, but the door flies open a moment later, as though Virgil had been waiting for him.

Virgil actually looks somewhere between panicked and relieved when he sets eyes on Richie, and it settles the idle nerves that had made their way into Richie's stomach. Richie lifts his hand in an awkward wave, and Virgil relaxes a little. He tilts his head toward the stairs, and Richie follows him wordlessly. They play video games for a few hours, both of them clearly fighting to keep the conversation light and easy, even as Richie can feel the need to just lean against Virgil crawling under his skin.

All he feels is cold.

He doesn't see the way Virgil keeps looking over at him, concern in the lines of his features. He doesn't let himself think too much of the fact that Robert comes in more than once to check on them. He doesn't let himself pay attention to anything other than the screen in front of him and the ache in his bones.

In the end, it's Virgil shutting off the game system and staring over at Richie for a solid minute that finally makes him pay attention. "What?" he snaps at Virgil, refusing to look at him.

"You okay, man? You seem…." Virgil doesn't finish the statement, and Richie can feel the words to fill in the sentence pressing against his own teeth. He tries to hold them back, but he can't quite manage it.

"Jumpy? Shaky? Utterly terrified?"

"Something like that."

Richie shrugs. "Can't really blame me, can you?" he asks defensively.

"No," Virgil agrees, "but I can certainly blame you for not asking for what you need right now."

That makes Richie look up at his friend, really looking at him for the first time since they'd taken out Brainiac. Virgil looks almost as bad as he feels, almost as scared and off-balance. Still, the words come as though through a fog. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Virgil says, something sharp in the line of his face, "that you obviously didn't come over here just to play video games and hide from what happened."

Richie purses his lips, trying to swallow down the words he desperately needs to say.

"Rich. C'mon, man."

"I don't want to be alone," he finally says. "I don't… I can't stand being alone right now. Just the thought of him being there, in my head, I…." He shakes his head. "I don't want to be alone."

The words feel like a weakness, and it's been a long time since anything he says to Virgil has felt like a weakness, but this. This feels like a weakness.

It feels like a long time before he can look up at Virgil, terrified of what he's going to see there, but the second he hears Virgil's voice he can't look away any longer.

"So stay here tonight."

Richie can't breathe through the way something in his chest goes tight. "What?"

"Stay here tonight," Virgil says again. "I'll have Pops call your folks and say we fell asleep playing video games. Goodness knows you've got plenty of clothes here anyway. Stay here tonight and then we can roll out to school tomorrow morning. Stay tomorrow night too if you need to. Pops won't care. Just…." Virgil swallows. "Whatever you need, man. I can't imagine—" He cuts himself off, his eyes sharp and bright as they meet Richie's. Richie tilts his head to the side, unsure what Virgil's trying to say. Virgil swallows and forges ahead, caution clearly thrown to the winds. "I can't imagine what that must have been like, being under his mind control for so long. Having everything you are wiped from your control. Being completely at his mercy." He stops short, shaking his head slightly. "I can't imagine."

Richie looks away. "Yeah," he says. He can't quite find the words to say anything more than that, and Virgil seems to sense it.

"So just. Stay here, man. As long as you need it."

Richie can't help it. He leans into Virgil's shoulder, relishing the warmth that comes from the touch. Virgil stays still for a moment, then throws his arm over Richie's shoulder, hauling him in close. Richie closes his eyes, feeling his skin leeching the warmth of Virgil's body through their clothes. Richie swallows, feeling greedy even as he speaks. "You're sure?"

"Yeah, man," Virgil says, his fingers tightening in the fabric over Richie's shoulder. "As long as you need it."

Richie nods, turning his head to tuck in against Virgil's shoulder. "Cool, man. Thanks."

If he spends most of the rest of the night stealing every touch he can from Virgil, no one has to know but him. It's something about the ease and the comfort of being around his best friend that makes everything just a little bit better, a little bit _warmer_ than being in his big cold house or being alone at HQ. So he stays awake for as long as he can, clinging to these moments for as long as Virgil will let him. It isn't enough—it isn't going to be enough for a long time—but for now it will tide him over.

He'll hang on until he's healed and then maybe, just maybe, he'll be able to stand on his own two feet again.

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'ed. Part of my Round Eight H/C Bingo Card. [Come hang with me on tumblr!](http://hollyandvice.tumblr.com/)


End file.
